Charlie's Birth Story

Charles Ross Griesenauer was born on Sunday, July 21 at 3:56 pm but for me his birth story starts on his due date, Thursday July 18.  I had a dr. appointment that morning.  At my previous 3 appointments I was told I had not made any progress and while I went in telling myself not to expect anything different, I was so disappointed to hear the dr. tell me I was still closed.  My regular doctor was out of town but we had scheduled a c-section for July 25th before she left.  When the dr. told me I still had not made any progress I felt like I was going to have that c-section.  The dr. was very nice and encouraging and knew how important having a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) was to me but at the same time let me know that it might not happen then way I wanted it to.  As soon as she left the room, I burst into tears.  I felt so disappointed in myself and felt like my body was broken.  Why wasn't my cervix dilating?  Would it ever?  Or would I have to have another c-section?  I knew the end goal was to deliver a healthy baby in whatever manor but I was so hopeful throughout my pregnancy that I would be able to deliver vaginally and the thought of another c-section and the recovery just wasn't what I wanted at all. Not to mention I was so over being pregnant.  The last month or so of my pregnancy was very difficult and I was more than ready for it to be over and have our baby join us.  Jason comforted me and offered to take me to Bread Co for a snack before heading back to work.  He knew I needed some time before going to get Peyton at my parents.  It was exactly what I needed to pull myself together and get my emotions in check.  As we were leaving, I told Jason, "This can't be the way it ends.  There has to be a story here.  I'm so upset and crying but watch me go into labor tonight" I wasn't too far off.  Peyton and I spent the afternoon at my parents and I was able to rest and felt much better about things by that evening.  I still felt like this baby was never going to come but I wasn't as upset and had tried to have faith that my body would cooperate eventually.

Friday I decided I was going to have a normal day and not think about things anymore.  Peyton and I went to Target that morning and I was having contractions the whole time we were there.   I didn't let myself get too excited because I'd been down this path before and it always ended up being a false alarm.  These contractions were a bit stronger though.  After walking around Target we went over to my sister's house for a while.  I continued to have contractions but they weren't getting closer together or stronger.  That evening Jason and I took Peyton for a walk to see if things would pick up.  When we got back, I was sitting on the couch and felt a small gush of something.  I went to the bathroom and saw that I lost my mucous plug!   I was so excited to see a sign that my body was doing something! I told Jason I had never been so excited to see something so gross!  The contractions must be finally doing their job.  I wasn't sure if I would go into labor that night so I called my parents and they came and got Peyton so she could spend the night at their house just in case.  Jason and I went for another walk but things still didn't really seem to be progressing.  My sister stopped by and offered her support and encouragement and assured me that things were starting to happen and it would only be a matter of time now.   After she left, I took a shower and went to bed.  Wouldn't you know the contractions slowed down over night and when I woke up they had pretty much stopped. Another false alarm.

Saturday evening Jason's parents came over and we went to dinner.  While we were at dinner I started having contractions again about 10 minutes apart and stronger than before.  I must have been making a pained expression because at one point Jason's dad asked if I was ok.  We left dinner and went home and took another walk.  The contractions continued and were stronger than anything I'd felt before to the point where I had to slow way down when they came, but again didn't seem to be getting closer together so I didn't want to call my parents and have them come get Peyton.  I figured it was just another false alarm.  But the contractions never let up and they definitely were getting stronger just not consistently closer together like I was told they should.  After putting Peyton to bed, I sat on my birth ball and bounced and Jason rubbed my back through contractions.  Neither one of us was able to sleep so we stayed up and watched TV.  At 1:00 I told Jason we should try to sleep.  By this point my contractions were pretty uncomfortable and there was no way I could sleep through them.  I laid in bed continuing to time them. They were still coming around 10 min apart give or take and I was waiting for them to get closer to 5 min apart.  But they were getting pretty painful,  Just as  I was wondering if we should go to the hospital, I had a contraction and felt two big gushes.  My water broke!  It was 2:30 in the morning and I woke Jason up and told him my water broke and it was time to go the hospital for real this time!  I called my parents and they jumped in the car to come over and stay with Peyton.  As we waited for my parents  I got my stuff together and put make up on.  I continued to have contractions and they were getting stronger and stronger.  I felt silly for thinking anything else was labor.  The contractions I had on previous occasions were nothing compared to these.  People are right when they say you will KNOW when you are really in labor.  My parents arrived at 3:00 am and wished us luck and off to the hospital we went.  Now my contractions were finally coming closer together and getting downright painful.  They were about 3-5 minutes apart on the ride to the hospital. 

We got to Mercy a little before 3:30 and were admitted right away.  The nurses didn't question if I was really in labor like they did the previous time we were there.  Again, I felt so silly for thinking I was in labor before.  I was able to walk and talk normally and that was definitely not the case this time!  We got up to labor and delivery and settled in.  I had told them that my water broke and they wanted to make sure it had - which at the time really annoyed me.  I knew it had but they weren't able to tell by just looking so they had to do an ultrasound and swab test to see if it ferned. They confirmed that my water had indeed broken.  The resident doctor who performed these tests was a complete weirdo and I did not like him at all.  He made me uncomfortable and didn't really seem confident in what he was doing.  Luckily I had a great nurse.  While all of this was going on my contractions had gotten very painful.  I was squeezing Jason's hand for dear life and already telling him I didn't think I could do it.  The nurse asked if I was going to get an epidural and I said yes, but  I wanted to be checked first to see how far along I was.  I had a point in my head that I was aiming to get to before getting the epidural 4-5 cm.  Based on the pain I was feeling, I was sure I had to be there.  So the weird resident doctor checked me.  He stumbled over his words and said "You're a 2 um a 1 uh your pretty closed."  WHAT?!  Closed??  You've got to be kidding me. I was so mad!  When the resident left the nurse asked me how uncomfortable the exam was.  Not very.  So she asked if she could check me again.  I said yes please do.  She checked me again and said You're a 2.  I literally told her I wanted to punch that resident in the face and she agreed. Luckily his shift was almost over and I did not have to see him again. So at about 5:30am I was only 2 cm dilated.  Not what I was hoping to hear but it was something.  I didn't think I should get the epidural yet, but I was in so much pain.  The nurse told me that the epidural could help me relax and move things along so I agreed to go ahead and get it.  I knew I needed to get some rest since I hadn't slept at all.  While we waited for the epidural I was in so much pain and asked Jason to go see what was taking so long and then in the same breath said no don't leave me.  I really was a mess.  I had no idea how painful contractions would be and while I didn't go as far as I wanted without the epidural I know I made the right decision.  I give major props to anyone who goes drug free! 

I got the epidural shortly later and felt so much relief and was able to relax and rest.  I tried to sleep but couldn't turn my brain off.  At 7:45am I was checked again and was at a 4.  I was making progress which was a relief!  They came to check me again an hour or two later and I had stalled out a bit so they started pitocin to move things along.  At 10:45am I was at a 5.  The nurse continued to up the pitocin. She said my contractions were clustering.  I would have a few really close together and then not have another one for several minutes.  Jason and I continued to try and rest.  Around noon my sister came up and brought Jason some lunch.  Torture for me since I couldn't eat anything except jello or Popsicles!   I did eat some jello just to have some energy since I hadn't eaten since dinner the night before.  I also had a popsicle which was a mistake because I almost choked on it!  A chunk broke off and since I was laying down in bed it slid right down my throat and got stuck.  I was gagging and almost threw up before getting it down.  Kind of freaked out my sister and Jason!  My sister left around 12:45pm and the nurse came back to check me.  I was expecting her to say I was at a 6 or 7 but to my surprise she said I was a 9!  I was shocked! She was surprised too since my contractions were so oddly spaced. This was really happening and my "broken" body was doing exactly what it was supposed to!  Our baby boy would be here soon!

My timeline gets a little fuzzy here because after that point things got a little harder.  Even though I wasn't in pain it was obvious to me that my body was working hard.  I was exhausted and suddenly got very nauseous and threw up.  The nurse said she would be back in an hour to check me again.  She came back a little before 2 and said there was just a small amount of cervix left.  At some point I was feeling pain in my right hip.  At first I thought it was just from the way I was laying but it was actually the contractions.  The pain was getting worse so I told the nurse and she called the anesthesiologist to give me some more medicine in the epidural.  I wasn't going to worry about it since I was getting close but the nurse told me I didn't get the epidural to suffer through pain.  I was so tired at this point that I kept dozing off when the nurse would leave the room. I got the additional medication and then the nurse checked me again.  She said there still seemed to be a small amount of cervix but I could try pushing if I wanted to see if it would just break away  I did a few practice pushes and was finally complete.  At some point my hip started hurting again and I was feeling the contractions so I got a little more medicine before I really started pushing.  I kept saying how tired I was and the nurse asked if I wanted to wait and rest some more but I said no I just wanted him out.  A little after 3 I started pushing.   Even with the epidural I was able to feel the pressure of the contractions and felt when it was time to push.  Jason was right there holding my leg and the nurse was counting and instructing me to take deep breaths and then push - I did this 3 times for each contraction.  Eventually she said she could see the head and I was doing a great job.  She told me that when it got to the point that his head came down and stayed down she would call the dr to come.  I'm guessing it was somewhere around 3:30 when she made that call.  At that point I could feel the baby's head and knew he was right there.  I asked the nurse if we had to wait for the dr and she said we didn't have to but should.  She said he would have an easy job because the baby was right there and all he would have to do is catch him.  As we waited for the dr the nurse got everything ready and set up.  It was so surreal knowing that I was going to be successful in having a vbac and our baby would be here so soon.  The dr. finally arrived along with several other people - nurses and another resident dr ( this one looked like Doogie Howser all grown up, or Barney from How I Met Your Mother and was very nice).  Dr. Super was the dr. on call that day and while I didn't feel like I knew him that well prior to the delivery he was awesome and I was happy to have him as my dr.  He coached me through the last few pushes and before I knew it I could see my baby!  I remember saying oh my god oh my god and then collapsing back as he was pulled out.  I did it!  He was here!  Charlie wasn't able to be placed on my chest right away because there was meconium in my water and he was covered in it when he came out!  He looked like a little green alien!  So the NICU nurse took him over to the warmer and they made sure he didn't ingest any of it.  Luckily he didn't.  The cord was also loosely around his neck which the dr said probably happened during delivery and wasn't a big deal.  Jason was right with Charlie the whole time and he finally let out his first cry.  It was music to my ears!  He was perfectly healthy.  After making sure his lungs were clear of meconium, they weighed Charlie.  Jason and I had both guessed earlier in the day that he would be high 7's close to 8 lbs.  Imagine our surprise when he weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs 14 oz!  Everyone in the room was surprised at how big he was!  While Charlie was being tended to the dr. delivered my placenta which was really painful and unpleasant.  I asked him if I had any tears and he wasn't sure yet.  After examining me further he said "No stitches!" only a few minor abrasions.  I couldn't believe it!  That big of a baby and no tear!  I was really lucky!  After the dr. was done cleaning me up they finally brought Charlie over to me and placed him on my chest for skin to skin.  It was such an amazing moment.  He was so beautiful and I was so happy to finally have him in my arms.  I was able to breastfeed him right away and he did a great job latching on.

Jason and I called and texted our family and friends and shared the news!  I was on such a high at that point.  All of my exhaustion was wiped away and I felt on top of the world!  We were moved to our postpartum room and Jason's parents came in to visit.   Later that evening my parents brought Peyton up to meet Charlie.  I was a little nervous about how it would go but she did great!  Peyton was so happy to see Jason and me and she was very sweet with Charlie.  She sat in bed with me and held him and kissed him.  She was already an amazing big sister!  My brother and Mary came up to visit later that night and my sister and her kids came the next morning.  We were so happy to introduce Charlie to everyone!

The rest of our hospital stay was pretty uneventful and went quickly compared to my stay with Peyton.  Recovery has been a million times easier. I was really sore the next day - my arms and shoulders and abdomen, but I felt pretty good within a couple of days and now at 4 weeks postpartum I feel completely back to normal.  I am so happy with my birth experience.  It really was everything I was hoping for.  I had no idea how hard it would be both mentally and physically but I wouldn't change a thing.  I am in awe at what my body was able to do and there is nothing that compares to delivering my baby and watching him come into the world just as God intended.